Single-hand adjustable bipod rifle support

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments provide a support apparatus that is set-up and operated by one hand of an operator to stabilize the for-end of a barrel section of an item used to engage in an activity. The apparatus is a one hand-operated support pod that stabilizes the for-end of the rifle barrel. The one hand-operated support pod includes a spring actuated rifle rest body, a set of adjustable length aluminum pole legs connected to a lower portion of the rifle rest body, a set of bearings that is each connected by a pin to one of the legs and the actuated rifle rest for pivoting the legs, a rifle rest connected to an upper portion of the rifle rest body, and a spring in an interior portion of the rifle rest body.

CLAIM OF BENEFIT TO PRIOR APPLICATION

This application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/749,095, entitled “Single-Hand Adjustable Bipod Rifle Support,” filed Jan. 4, 2013. The U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/749,095 is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

A wide variety of activities are enhanced when one or more items are used to support equipment or devices used in the activity. For example, a GPS stand in a car may support a GPS device that a driver uses for map viewing. Many equipment users want to use their equipment in a variety of different locations, and thus, such support items must also be mobile in order to optimize their utility. In some cases, equipment users plan to use their equipment in remote locations or in locations where accessibility is challenged. For example, a deer hunter may hunt from a tree stand twenty feet above the ground while a quail hunter may lie under a bush. Thus, such support items must be small and compact to allow users to carry and use the support items in any location.

While many support devices merely enhance the ease of use of the equipment being used or the enjoyment of the activity, some support devices are used to enhance the productivity of the equipment. In particular, items having long barrels typically need to be supported at the end of the barrel in order to provide sufficient stability to use the device. Examples of items that have long barrels include telescopes, telephoto lenses of cameras, scoping lenses, rifles, etc. Stabilizing devices typically require set-up before the equipment can actually be used. Examples of such stabilization devices include shooting sticks such as monopods, bipods, and tripods. By using a stabilization device such as a tripod, for example, a photographer can minimize unwanted camera movements (e.g., camera jitter) by mounting the camera on the tripod. However, many stabilization devices require both hands to set-up, mount equipment to, and/or adjust. This is problematic for people who want to quickly stabilize long-barreled equipment with a support device while contemporaneously engaging in the activity. Also, many users need to make slight adjustments to stabilized equipment without dismounting the barrel of the equipment from the support device. Hunters who use rifles, for example, often need to hold the rifle in a set position for extended periods of time and/or move the rifle slightly to track animals. However, a hunter may only have one hand free to set-up and/or adjust a support device because the hunter is likely to keep one hand on the trigger. As many such support devices have multiple parts that need to be set-up, it is often necessary to use two hands. Thus, a hunter with one hand on the trigger is usually not able to quickly set-up and/or adjust a bipod or other support device. In these situations, hunters may not be prepared to shoot at critical moments when there is a clear line of sight to the animal.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel support apparatus that is set-up and operated by one hand of an operator to stabilize the for-end of a barrel section of an item used to engage in an activity. The apparatus of some embodiments is a one hand-operated support pod that stabilizes the for-end of a rifle barrel. The one hand-operated support pod of some embodiments includes a body, a set of legs connected to a lower portion of the body, a rest piece connected to an upper portion of the body, and a spring in an interior portion of the body. In some embodiments, the body is a cylindrical structure with an exterior that is graspable by a single hand and a hollowed out interior that includes the spring.

In some embodiments, a set of spacers are included in the hollowed out interior to compress the spring. In some embodiments, the spacers are positioned within the body interior at one of the top and bottom portions of the body. The spacer positions in some embodiments are adjustable to increase or decrease spring compression within the interior of the body. In some embodiments, the exterior of the body includes a tension adjustor that protrudes into the interior of the body and is adjustable at the exterior to adjust the positions of the spacers in the interior. In some embodiments, the tension adjustor is one of a screw and a lever.

The preceding Summary is intended to serve as a brief introduction to some embodiments of the invention. It is not meant to be an introduction or overview of all inventive subject matter disclosed in this specification. The Detailed Description that follows and the Drawings that are referred to in the Detailed Description will further describe the embodiments described in the Summary as well as other embodiments. Accordingly, to understand all the embodiments described by this document, a full review of the Summary, Detailed Description, and Drawings is needed. Moreover, the claimed subject matters are not to be limited by the illustrative details in the Summary, Detailed Description, and Drawings, but rather are to be defined by the appended claims, because the claimed subject matter can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit of the subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having described the invention in general terms, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 conceptually illustrates a perspective view of a single-hand adjustable bipod rifle support in some embodiments.

FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates a detail perspective view of a single-hand adjustable bipod rifle support in some embodiments.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates a detail perspective view of a non-actuated position of a single-hand adjustable bipod rifle support in some embodiments.

FIG. 4 conceptually illustrates an exploded perspective view of a single-hand adjustable bipod rifle support in some embodiments.

FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates a side elevation view of a single-hand adjustable bipod rifle support of some embodiments with a housing element removed to show the support in a non-actuated position.

FIG. 6 conceptually illustrates a side elevation view of a single-hand adjustable bipod rifle support of some embodiments in an actuated position.

FIG. 7 conceptually illustrates a perspective view of a single-hand adjustable tripod rifle support in some embodiments.

FIG. 8 conceptually illustrates an exploded perspective view of a single-hand adjustable tripod rifle support in some embodiments.

FIG. 9 conceptually illustrates an exploded perspective view of an alternative use of the rifle support in some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of the invention, numerous details, examples, and embodiments of the invention are described. However, it will be clear and apparent to one skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth and that the invention can be adapted to work for any kind of equipment support, including those used to support telescopes, telephoto lenses of cameras, and many other devices having long barrels.

Some embodiments of the invention provide a novel support apparatus that is set-up and operated by one hand of an operator to stabilize the for-end of a barrel section of an item used to engage in an activity. The apparatus of some embodiments is a one hand-operated support pod that stabilizes the for-end of the rifle barrel. The one hand-operated support pod of some embodiments includes a spring actuated rifle rest body, a set of adjustable length aluminum pole legs connected to a lower portion of the rifle rest body, a set of bearings that is each connected by a pin to one of the legs and the actuated rifle rest for pivoting the legs, a rifle rest connected to an upper portion of the rifle rest body, and a spring in an interior portion of the rifle rest body. In some embodiments, the rifle rest body is a cylindrical structure with an exterior that is graspable by a single hand and a hollowed out interior that includes the spring.

In some embodiments, the adjustable length pole legs are opened by the single hand of the operator to set up the support pod while the other hand of the operator is simultaneously holding the equipment being supported. The support pod of some embodiments is a bipod with two legs that are spread by operation of the single hand by the operator. The support pad of some embodiments is a tripod with three legs that are spread by operation of the operator's single hand. In some embodiments, the support pad is a mono-pod with one leg that is unfolded by operation of the operator's single hand. For example, a shooting enthusiast may use a mono-pad for skeet shooting to improve shot accuracy for moving targets, and alternatively use a bi-pod at a target range to improve shot accuracy for stationary targets.

Most support pods for long-barreled equipment are clumsy or awkward to use, seeming to require at least two hands to effectively set up or operate. The advantage of a one hand-operated support pod, such as a bipod, is that a user of a device having a particularly long barrel is not required to divert attention to set-up and/or adjustment of the support device, but instead, can maintain focus on the activity. For instance, a hunter can keep an animal in the cross-hairs of a rifle scope through a succession of actions, including spotting the animal while walking through the woods, stopping and scoping the animal, slowly laying down on the ground and setting up a bipod on which to rest the for-end of the rifle barrel, and making different vertical or horizontal adjustments of the barrel in order to track the animal as it moves through the woods. The set up and adjustments are necessary in order to effectively track animals. Hunters with minimal experience (e.g., youth hunters) may in particular have a difficult time setting up support devices in general. Instead of fumbling around trying to set up the support, the improvement allows the hunter to focus on the animal. Thus, with one hand on the rifle and one hand on the bipod, the hunter can stay focused on the target while making small adjustments with the bipod in hand.

In some embodiments, the set of legs are automatically opened by the single hand of the operator. In these embodiments, the body portion of the support pod is adjustable so that an adjustment of the body portion by the single hand of the operator causes the legs to automatically open. In some cases, the legs pivot open to a forty degree angle. In some embodiments, the body is rotationally adjustable to automatically open the legs of the support pod.

Rotational movements of the body by the single hand, in some embodiments, cause the set of legs of the support pod to automatically fan out to one of several predetermined configurations that create stability for a solid shooting rest. In some embodiments, a push rod is projected up or down to cause the legs to pivot on their own bearings. Force can also be applied to the body to adjust the height by spreading the legs out further than the initial fan out.

In some embodiments, the body is vertically adjustable to automatically open the legs of the support pod. In these embodiments, vertical movements cause the set of legs of the support pad to fan out to one of several predetermined configurations that create stability for a solid shooting rest. The vertical movements of the body can be based on the operator gripping the body and moving it up or down or force that is applied to the rifle to push the rifle rest down.

Automatic opening of the legs solves a number of problems. For example, a hunter can both set up a bipod and adjust the height of the bipod through a single movement of the bipod's body by the one hand operation of the user.

In some embodiments, the set of legs are manually opened by the single hand of the operator. In these embodiments, the legs are individually adjusted by the operator one leg at a time while the other hand of the operator holds the rifle on target. For example, the one leg of a mono-pad, the two legs of a bipod, and the three legs of a tripod can be manually spread by one or more fingers of the single hand of the operator, such that the single hand of the operator remains grasped to the body of the support device, and the other hand holds the device (e.g., ready at the trigger).

Manual opening of legs solves a number of problems. For example, a hunter may need to set up a bipod or tripod on ground that is uneven (e.g., one leg set on top of a rock and the other legs at a lower ground position). With manual opening of the legs, the hunter can compensate for differences in ground level. Additionally, in some cases, a hunter can open the legs more slowly than automatic opening of the legs, and thus, may be able to reduce the amount of sound being made when the legs are opening (e.g., so as not to alert an animal of the hunter's presence).

In some embodiments, a set of spacers are included in the hollowed out interior to compress the spring. In some embodiments, the spacers are positioned within the body interior at one of the top and bottom portions of the body. The spacer positions in some embodiments are adjustable to increase or decrease spring compression within the interior of the body. In some embodiments, the exterior of the body includes a tension adjustor that protrudes into the interior of the body and is adjustable at the exterior to adjust the positions of the spacers in the interior. In some embodiments, the tension adjustor is one of a screw and a lever.

Different embodiments may optionally include or exclude different items than those described above. For instance, lubricant could be added to ensure free motion without binds or the spring could be removed and replaced with another item, such as a simple push rod. The rifle rest in different embodiments can be a custom rest for different equipment. For example, scoping lens rest or a set of side connectors for a telescope.

The above-described embodiments of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation. 

I claim:
 1. A rifle support apparatus comprising: a spring-actuated rifle rest body comprising a graspable exterior and a hollow interior within which a spring is loaded; a rifle rest attached to an upper portion of the rifle rest body, the rifle rest for resting a forend portion of a rifle barrel to stabilize movements of the rifle barrel; a plurality of bearings connected to a lower portion of the rifle rest body; and a plurality of adjustable legs that pivot out to an open position to stabilize the rifle barrel resting in the rifle rest.
 2. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rifle support apparatus is a bipod comprising two adjustable legs.
 3. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rifle support apparatus is a tripod comprising three adjustable legs.
 4. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a set of spacers within the hollow interior of the rifle rest body, the set of spacers configured to compress the spring loaded within the hollow chamber.
 5. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1, wherein the adjustable legs pivot open to from a closed position to an angle of approximately forty degrees.
 6. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of push rods for the plurality of legs, each push rod connected to a bearing in order to fan out when the bearing is turned and cause the leg to pivot open.
 7. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of adjustable legs comprises a set of adjustable length aluminum poles connected to a lower portion of the rifle rest body.
 8. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a set of bearings, wherein each bearing connects an adjustable leg by a pin to the spring-actuated rifle rest to pivot the legs.
 9. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a spring in an interior portion of the rifle rest body.
 10. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rifle support apparatus comprises a one hand-operated support pod that stabilizes the for-end of the rifle barrel.
 11. The rifle support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a locking button that locks the plurality of adjustable legs in the open position to further stabilize the rifle barrel resting in the rifle rest. 